coeurless

"Oh, no reason!" Biggest lie he told today. So far, anyway. Depended on if the other saw that extremely brief moment of realization on his face. So it might be lonely after all, then...?

…granted it could be just a matter of paranoia if he doesn't fully believe the other, but rarely he failed to read someone's true intentions.

"Makes sense!"

This said. Why not humor him? He might actually turn this dull evaluation in something a bit more interesting - either by discovering something new they refused to speak of, or simply getting an excuse to infodump about aliens he shouldn't know anything about.

❝ DAMN ! guess we're a little too late, POLIWRATH would've helped you with moving stuff. ❞ quite honestly, brooke couldn't be MORE STOCKED to have someone new at the union; that much was clear.

what also seemed clear was HOW BLISSFULLY UNAWARE she seemed to be about the scientist's past.

"Ah, don't worry about it! I have my Psychic Types for the heavy lifting.

And not yet! I managed to snoop around while setting up, but if you have time I'll gladly follow you for a while."

"You're not slick, Colress. If you wanted to scare me off, you could've just told me to 'leave or suffer the consequences' or whatever."

She sighed and shook her head, but otherwise didn't budge.

Yes. Sure. Was. Past tense. Nobody believes you including yourself, Colress.

"And didn't you hear? There isn't a criminal organization worse than those who call themselves law enforcers!

...and they allow you in if you're smarter than the average."

Another chuckle. He definitively got worse with the years.

N stood still at the corner of the street, waiting for the crosswalk to blink to blue-white; slowly breathing. Focusing. Trying not to give off the indication that he had spotted Colress. Why the scientist ( if… it was the same Colress he knew ) was there; he didn’t know.

Usually, though, that meant something was wrong.

His head turned, clicking his teeth together as he tried to keep his temper in check. Nothing went well when something happened regarding the ex-Plasma members, and he was one of them. But it didn’t answer any questions.

The light flicked. He crossed the street, hands shoved into his hoodie pockets as his head moved some, trying to catch sight of Colress again –

Where did he go…?

And of course, he had to run into Lord N. His. This universe's. Who knows. It's a Lord N, one that stepped back into a corner as soon as their eyes met. Almost met.

Awkward. Awkward. So so so awkward, enough to make him try to walk out of the way, go on with his day and, most importantly, allow the young man to do the same.

-aaaand ended up stumbling right into him. All it took was a second in which both of them tried to look around and find the other in the crowd.

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"Juice that makes you angry..." Made sense, yeah. Thankfully his Nihilego hadn't possessed him or anything. He'd been super careful, but at this rate he's unsure how to proceed with the UB. It almost seemed lonely... Which made him wonder--

"Do Nihilego usually live in groups? Or are they more solitary?"

A quite... simple way too describe it, rather stupid if you ask me, but hey! At least people get it!"

...half-insult aside, Colress kept an eye on Hau the whole time he spent thinking about the next answer, no matter how quickly he found the right words. Each twitch, each hesitation had to be put down on the documents. A jumpy leg could've been a sign of stress, boredom, a side-effect of some neurodivergency or his nervous system finally shutting down, after all. Better be safe than sorry.

"It depends. They've been seen in groups of up to ten in the Ultra Space. Likely to hunt together.

Here? I mostly saw them alone."

Fixing his glasses, his smile widened.

"Bad mood" "Need to spar" "Stress? Late puberty?"

"Nihilego toxins aren't poisonous in a traditional way, but it immediately afftects your amygdala and makes it release excessive adrenaline and noradrenaline-"

…a cough. Ermmm, in Galarian, Einstein???

"…what I meant, is that it's a juice that makes you angry."

There we go. Nihilego toxins explained for toddlers.

"Treats?" That's a first for this kind of interview type thing. At least for Hau. "Psychological checkup-- right." As if that wasn't a lot for them right now. They'd been ignoring everything surrounding their bad thoughts the past while, at least while traveling. Mostly 'cause they didn't have time for bad thoughts, but also 'cause they had to try their best to make everyone proud!

Because clipboards are overrated and take up soooo much unnecessary paper.

Once sounding snippy, there was a jovial undertone to whatever nonsense Ghetsis was going to say next;

"Do I bore you?" Finally that laughter breaks loose and it's an insufferable lilting sound, mocking... but somewhere within it, it sounded genuine. He didn't look away once, either.

"Would you like me to be more interesting, my friend?"

His gaze was searing, it begged to be avoided. It was one of Ghetsis' many ways of making himself out to be better than others, never breaking eye contact when he suspected a challenge, and Colress would've known him enough by now to understand that the only way to 'beat' him at his game was to meet his gaze head-on. Like feral Pokémon looking for a fight.

Essentially, whatever made Ghetsis laugh and grin as he did was born out of the sort of competition he relished in.

At least he soon after straightened-up, allowing Colress some of his personal space back. His grin grew more contemplative.

Nothing came out. He could just stare back, knowing that lowering his gaze would mean conceding defeat or, worse, be comparable to offer his throat to rip.

Again, Liepard and Rattata.

"You should know by now that I'm not exactly thrilled to partecipate to your games, Ghetsis.

Subtle or not, they can be rather troublesome to deal with, and while your life is empty, I have plenty of work to do, you know? I can't keep up with all your schemes like the good old times!", he still answered, desperate to cling on his usual attitude "Thank you for always remembering about me, but I'm certain you'd like to live your last few days having fun with something else. May I suggest bingo?"

...who is he kidding? He sounded forced. Awfully so, obviously so, enough to necessitate a break to breathe in, slow and deep. Perhaps, to realize he kept in his breath until that moment.

He dropped his smile at last, and with it so did his tone.

"Of course, if you're deadset to keep bothering me until one of us drops dead, I hope you don't expect me to sit there and take it, yes? If you change the rules our your games, then I'll just find new ways to outsmart you.

Seriously, what's with Alola and getting in and out funny portals?

"Well, to be fair? There are precedents when it comes to this Region and people wanting to actually jump in Ultra Space.", he's quick to correct the other, lifting a finger "But don't worry! I made sure to bring some treats for later, okay?"

For some, that might be nice. He actually brought some lollipops! Yay! For others, that could be read as infantilizing.